How does Brent change over the course of the book Whirligig by Paul Fleischman?

At the beginning of the book, Brent is a selfish, listless, and angry teenager. Once he is traveling on his own and has an assignment to do – to build four whirligigs in Lea’s honor, in the four corners of the country – he finally has a purpose and a set of goals to work toward. This job is his alone, and he must do it to atone for causing Lea’s death. It’s all up...

At the beginning of the book, Brent is a selfish, listless, and angry teenager. Once he is traveling on his own and has an assignment to do – to build four whirligigs in Lea’s honor, in the four corners of the country – he finally has a purpose and a set of goals to work toward. This job is his alone, and he must do it to atone for causing Lea’s death. It’s all up to him. If he makes any mistakes, only he can fix them. He can’t afford to get angry at himself or at anyone or anything else. He still keeps his distance from most strangers; but to the few he opens up to, he’s being more polite than he would have been in the past. He’s reading good books. He’s teaching himself astronomy. He’s developing his own identity, away from his parents. He’s maturing, and he’s on his way to becoming an adult by the end of the book.